One of the best discoveries of the last decade was painted pumpkins. Agreed? No more carving up a pumpkin with kids only to worry about lost limbs and orange guts. It’s both gross and unnecessary. While we’ve been big fans of a mini painted pumpkin for years (remember our rainbow painted pumpkins and our faces pumpkins?), we won’t be stopping any time soon so we dressed some up as inspired by our recent The House That Lars Built collection with Casetify–because they are too cute! You’ll learn how to do checkerboard pattern, add easy painted flowers, simple stripes, and more!

-make widget with all the acrylic paint colors I got from michaels
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Painted Mini Pumpkins

I love the look of all of our mini painted pumpkins this year, especially as a cohesive look. In fact, the more the better! We based them off of our new Casetify collection because they are definitely worth replicating! The checkerboard is such a fun and easy pattern to paint as is the colorblock and squiggles. The florals take a bit more work but they are *chef’s kiss.* Do you have a fave? I’m leaning towards the folk floral, but then again, that’s also my favorite case so there’s a theme there.

How to paint mini pumpkins

We started out with white pumpkins so that it would be easier to see the pattern. Orange works too, but you need more layers of paint to see the design. It’s also easier if you choose pumpkins with longer stems. I know that because we couldn’t find any and it was tricky! It’s nice to be able to hold onto something sturdy.

Materials

• white mini pumpkins (you should be able to get these at most grocery stores this time of year!)
• acrylic or house paint (see colors below!)
• paintbrushes
• UV sealant (optional–keeps the paint looking nice longer)

How to paint a checkerboard pattern on a pumpkin

To create the checkerboard pattern on a pumpkin you will need to do the following:

1. Paint your whole pumpkin in the lighter of the two colors you plan to use. Let it dry,
2. With a thin marker, draw lines down each of the mini pumpkin’s natural grooves. The lines won’t be perfectly measured, but they will be a lot easier to paint this way!
3. Draw even horizontal stripes around the mini pumpkin.
4. Fill in every other box with the darker paint! Make sure you cover up the marker lines.
5. We added in thicker accent stripes to mimic our cases just for fun
6. Add on your UV sealant if desired.

How to make the quilted folk floral mini pumpkin

1. Use your permanent marker to draw out a grid pattern on your mini pumpkin, similarly to how you did with the above checkerboard technique. We made ours two grooves thick so that the “quilt squares” were bigger.
2. Paint in the colors of your squares. Wait until dry.
3. Use the end of a pencil or large paintbrush to create a ring of the petals inside the squares.
4. Paint contrasting circles onto each square in the center of the petals.
5. Use UV sealant if desired to seal the paint.

How to make wavy line painted mini pumpkin

How to make the simple floral painted mini pumpkin

1. Paint the whole mini pumpkin in a solid background color.
2. Follow the flower instructions from the quilted pumpkin, but without the squares–just place them around your pumpkin randomly!
3. Use UV sealant if desired to seal the paint.

How to make large floral painted mini pumpkin

These are one of my favorites! I love the decorative element it brings.

1. With your permanent marker, draw lines down the mini pumpkin’s natural segments, dividing it into even sections.
2. Draw out your design in each section. Our design includes an abstract flower at the top (yellow), a tall, symmetrical flower taking up most of the pumpkin’s body (in shades of red and pink with a green stem and leaves), and two abstract flowers at the bottom (yellow).
3. Using the background color, paint in most of the pumpkin’s background. Avoid painting over your sketch of the flowers, but if you cross the marker lines a little bit, you should be okay. You just want to leave enough of your drawing so that you can see where to paint your flower.
4. With your yellow, pink, red, and green paints, paint in the rest of your floral design.
5. Use UV sealant if desired to seal the paint.

How to make the wavy lined painted mini pumpkin

1. Paint the whole mini pumpkin in a solid background color.
2. With an accent color, paint the outline of a wavy, squiggly design down the mini pumpkin’s side.
3. Fill in your wavy shape with the same accent color.
4. Use UV sealant if desired to seal the paint.

How to make the delicate floral painted mini pumpkin

This one is such a pretty showstopper, and it’s way easier than it looks! You’ll use a fine tipped paintbrush instead of a foam paintbrush. Just make sure to clean it between colors!

1. If desired, paint the whole mini pumpkin a solid background color. I opted not to, instead showing off the pretty white pumpkin color, but you do you!
2. With green paint, paint little curved lines as flower stems and wavy green leaves coming off the bottom of them. Distribute these around the pumpkin randomly.
3. Top the flower stems with white or light pink flowers with red centers.
4. Paint abstract yellow flowers around the pumpkin’s surface.
5. Fill in empty space with mini periwinkle, pink, red, and orange flowers. For these, just make a few small brushstrokes. Paint a tiny green stem underneath or a white dot in the middle for a different style.
6. Use UV sealant if desired to seal the paint.

Marbling technique didn’t work this time

We tried doing a marbling technique as inspired by our Casetify marbled case, but it just wasn’t working out. I’ll be sharing the failed version over on Instagram (hahahaha!). If you have a marbling technique that has worked for you in the past, let us know!

You can shop our The House That Lars Built for Casetify Collection here

We would love to see how you’re painting your mini pumpkins this year. Tag us with #LarsHalloween or #LarsMakes so we can see them! 

If you liked these painted pumpkins you might also like these ones:

Rainbow painted pumpkins
Pastel painted face pumpkins
DIY rainbow pumpkin arch
Pumpkin favor with leaf template